Flying Friday 3/11 afternoon @ Woodstock or Pulpit

[sailin]

Just checking to see if anybody is interested in a Friday afternoon flight at either Woodstock or the Pulpit???

The wind direction.... W to WNW......looks better for the Pulpit but it looks like it may be blown out there and a better chance for precipitation?? Then there is Woodstock..... velocity and overall weather looks good but the direction is W to WNW.

Are any observers available and considering ?? I can be at either launch by noon.


thanks,
Jon

[jyoder111]

I'm interested too!! I can't make Sunday so it'd be great if we can get a crew out on Friday!

[mcelrah]

Guys, I'm committed at the sailplane club in Front Royal Friday. If I get done there in time, I *might* be able to observe at Woodstock later. Hopefully another observer will step forward. If not, we'll just have to communicate on Friday and see how things progress. - Hugh

[sailin]

Sounds good Hugh, thank you.
I'll do another weather check before heading to the meeting tonight (CHGPA meeting).......looks like the possibility of a due west cross, but NO Stepper is still showing more of a WNW.........not sure how much of a west cross the woodstock slot can take?????

see you tonight,
Jon

[sailin]

After a final weather check this morning it looked like it was definitely worth a shot at Woodstock. I called Jesse to see if he was still in on flying and he was. Next, and a very critical part of the operation, was checking to see if Hugh could observe. I got a hold of him on the phone while he was a the sailplane club and said head on out and we will figure it out...and so we did

Jesse and I met in the LZ for a car drop and I also set up some windsocks. Wind direction wasn't looking promising with mostly due west cycles with some WSW thrown in there. But it was still early. We headed up to launch to find W to WNW to occasional NW cycles coming in. Velocity was 5-8mph with gust to 12-15mph. The sky was really overcast with what looked like a big grayish blanket. I set up a bunch of streamers so we could keep an eye on what was happening in the slot, in addition to what was going on with the trees.
At 1230 we hadn't been able to make contact with Hugh yet but we had faith......H2 hope really We started to set up and by 1pm we had heard from Hugh that he was heading over and hoping to be there in 45 minutes. SWEET!!!
Just after 2pm I was first up in the launch slot waiting for a cycle. I had to wait through several switchy cycles before I launched in about 6-8mph of WNW. I headed out and then north down the ridge to nestle myself in the north finger that gives off nice lift in a west cross.....it was working! I got up fairly easily and before I knew it was 500' over and getting rocked and rolled a bit. And then after a while, getting rocked and rolled quite a bit. And then just flat out getting my @$$ kicked!! I kept testing my penetration which was always there, but minimal at about 1000' over. I headed out away from the ridge (even though I had already been conservatively out front) to try and get back in the lower smoother air that I had been in. Kinda worked. I did a couple nice passes down the ridge and back. Had a cool moment where Jesse and I were in the air together and close enough to give a wave (not really close). I headed out into the valley a bit, flew around and looked for the bald eagle that Jessee and I had seen out on front of launch while waiting for Hugh. After a while I was back up in the rowdy air and becoming ever aware that my 195 squares was demanding a lot of attention. Getting my @$$ kicked again. I was having to work ALOT to try and stay down, not wanting to get back up where penetration was an issue. After having a moment of weightlessness in my harness I decided that it was time to head out and land.....air was a little sporty for me and my glider.
And this is when it got interesting!! As I was heading out I hit some POWERFUL lift at the bottom of the ridge as it transitions into the flood plain. I pulled in some to try and push through it because I wanted to go out and not up......but it didn't matter. I was going up faster now. My vario was screaming, my bar was pulled in all the way and I was going UP and fast!! I seriously thought that I was in cloud suck. I would have bet a paycheck that the next thing I was going to be looking at was WHITE all around. I kept the bar stuffed....arms burning at this point....but still going up. I don't know if this makes sense but it felt that my angle of attack was still very positive (nose up) even though I was stuffing the bar.....weird feeling. My ground track although very slight still seemed to be in the intended direction and my only plan and hope at the time was that I would keep the bar stuffed and eventually I would pass through this lift/cloud suck. Eventually I did. At this point I had written off the main LZ as I imagined a vey turbulent ending to this already rowdy enough flight. I headed to the bridge fields for my first ever "Outlanding". There was a decent headwind cutting my glide down, but thanks to all the unwelcome altitude I had just gained, I knew I had it made. Landing was a smooth and uneventful ending to an exciting, and for a moment scary, flight.
This flight has proven to me AGAIN the importance of good weather knowledge as it relays to flying. In the end it seems the most likely cause of my sudden, powerful, ascent was WAVE. A very fascinating and now personal, weather phenomenon that I am sure to learn loads more about! Even though I have seen WAVE clouds before, looking out at the overcast sky today looked anything but WAVE to me...but it was there. As the sky broke up this evening it became very easy to see. Another take home nugget for me from the flight today is the importance of being in tune with your glider. Once I realized me and my 195 squares weren't a good match for the air we were in ( I am on the light end of the weight range and I didn't do a good job of putting on my winter weight I headed out to land. Even though it was certainly launchable, the forecast was suitable and I felt my skill level was appropriate......the air I found myself in wasn't right for me and my wing.
Jesse and Hugh both had soaring flights as well...
All in all it was a great day. Great to soar!! Great to learn a real life lesson about WAVE without getting hurt!!
Big thanks to Hugh for making it over there after an early morning start at the sailplane club. Great flying with you Jesse, lets do some MORE midweek stuff!!!
Hope to see you all Sunday!

Jon

[mcelrah]

I'm embarrassed about letting Jon fly in these conditions - but honestly didn't expect it to be so rowdy for him. My sailplane flight earlier in the day had not revealed anything remarkable (acknowledge that a sailplane isn't a good wind dummy for a hang-glider). Conditions on launch seemed benign - no freight trains blowing through. Clearly he was in wave - only explanation for the big ups and downs. (After we were on the ground, the striations revealed themselves. The ups and downs swept out the overcast that was in effect while we were launching/flying.) He handled it well, managed his altitude and penetration to make a safer LZ without coming up short.

Jesse also had a good flight - with 25 fewer squares at the same weight. He is still flying without vario, but uses visual cues well to gauge altitude and penetration.

I used all the performance of my WW Sport 2 155 with 3/4 VG to penetrate the strong west cross. Got to 1400 over launch effortlessly. I liked having the digital confirmation from GPS that I was penetrating at 6-8 mph at altitude. This increased to 14 mph at launch altitude.

- Hugh

[RichH]

Woodstock in strong westerlys can be a very trashy place to fly as the winds tend to rotor over the fingers that come out from the Mtn..Though in the spring you add the addition of strong thermals and it can become very turbulant ..It is very possible that he encountered wave conditions since the winds above the Mtn appeared to be much stronger..I wouldn't beat yourself up Hugh about the decision to let Jon fly ..from his report at launch conditions appeared to be within his range. I have seen this before at woodstock where it appears benign at launch only to get your ass handed to you as fly out of the slot..My only advice would be on days that there appears to be a westerly cross take a trip to the top of the tower to get a better read (if u can still get up there) on the true wind direction..as the winds will channel into the slot giving the appearence of a more nw direction..As we enter the spring season everyone needs to be awear that we may encounter the strongest thermal conditions of the year in the next 2 months..add stronger wind velocities and you have a very turbulant mixture to land in during mid -day..Fly Safe...

[jyoder111]

As mentioned, I flew Woodstock as well. Thanks again for observing, Hugh!
I had a good soaring flight for 40-some minutes before getting tired and deciding to land. I didn't have much trouble penetrating. The stronger conditions came in pockets and flying laterally out of strong lift+head wind worked better than trying to beat it head on with the bar stuffed. Highlight of the day and a new experience for me was getting up almost to cloud base and seeing the clouds stretch out like a inverted horizon! It was a kinda spiritual.
I landed in the main LZ and picked Jon up on the way back up after his first XC!

I'm guessing I'm hooked in at 190-195lbs on a Falcon 3 170.

[XCanytime]

Wing loading makes a big difference. Jesse you applied the same method as dealing with a rip current. Good that you did that. However, be very cautious getting close to base when there is little to no blue. With wave being prevalent yesterday you could have easily been swept into and above the clouds. An awesome view for sure, but not worth the dangers. Bacil